t do you mean by a jackass frigate?" inquired I.

"I mean one of your twenty-eight-gun ships, so called, because there is
as much difference between them and a real frigate, like the one we are
sailing in, as there is between a donkey and a race-horse. Well, the
ship was no sooner brought down to the dock-yard to have her ballast
taken in, than our captain came down to her--a little, thin, spare man,
but a man of weight nevertheless, for he brought a great pair of scales
with him, and weighed everything that was put on board. I forget his
real name, but the sailors christened him Captain Avoirdupois. He had a
large book, and in it he inserted the weight of the ballast, and of the
shot, water, provisions, coals, standing and running rigging, cables,
and everything else. But I didn't remain long; for one day I brought on
board a pair of new boots, which I forgot to report, that they might be
put into the scales, which swung on the gangway; and whether the captain
thought that they would sink his ship, or for what I cannot tell, but he
ordered me to quit her immediately--so there I was adrift again.

"One day I was in the dock-yard, looking at a two-decker in the basin,
just brought forward for service, and I inquired who was to be the
captain. They told me that his name was O'Connor. Then he's a
countryman of mine, thought I, and I'll try my luck. So I called at
Goud's Hotel, where he was lodging, and requested to speak with him. I
was admitted, and told him, with my best bow, that I had come as a
volunteer for his ship, and that my name was O'Brien. As it happened,
he had some vacancies, and liking my brogue, he asked me in what ships I
had served. I told him, and also my reason for quitting my last--which
was, because I was turned out of it. I explained the story of the
boots, and he made inquiries, and found that it was all true: and then
he gave me a vacancy as master's mate. We were ordered to South
America; and the trade winds took us there in a jiffy. I liked my
captain and officers very much, and what was better, we took some good
prizes. But somehow or other, I never had the luck to remain long in
one ship, and that by no fault of mine; at least not in this instance.
All went on as smooth as possible, until one day, the captain took us on
shore to a ball, at one of the peaceable districts. We had a very merry
night of it; but as luck would have it, I had the morning watch to keep,
and see the decks